News Release

Fort Raleigh National Historic Site participating in national bell ringing ceremony

The First Light of Freedom monument at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site commemorates the Roanoke Island Freedmen's Colony that was set up during the American Civil War.

News Release Date: August 19, 2019

Contact: Mike Barber, 252-475-9032

On August 25, 2019, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved Africans in English-occupied North America by conducting a special program at 2:30 p.m., followed by participating in a national bell ringing ceremony at 3 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

The national bell ringing ceremony enables Americans from all walks of life to capture the spirit of healing and reconciliation while honoring the significance of 400 years of African American history and culture.

While Fort Raleigh National Historic Site is best known as the site of the first English colony in the New World, it was also the site of the Freedmen’s Colony that became a beacon of hope and the start of a new life for more than 3,000 freed slaves and their families after the American Civil War.